In 1547, secretaries to the King became specialized, writing correspondence to foreign governments, and negotiating peace treaties. The four French secretaries of state where foreign relations were divided by region, in 1589, became centralized with one becoming first secretary responsible for international relations.

Under the authority of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, along with two other ministers assigned to the Cooperation and European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs encompasses numerous services:

Services directly related to the ministers

The ministers' cabinet

The office of cabinets, which gathers a personnel in charge of the administrative and logostics aspects of the three ministers' cabinets